Rwanda

The elephant trumpeted as she fled across the river;
The young boy screamed as he ran from his village hut;
The net closed, as the soldiers raced along the causeway;
The troops quickly spread around the settlement;
Two soldiers leapt from their unequal chariot;
He tried to hide in his bewildered mind;
She stopped momentarily, not knowing where to go;
He looked backward as the soldiers began to kill;
A rifle tracked her as she fought to reach her sanctuary;
A soldier grabbed his arm as he ran between the huts;
Bullets smashed into her skull as she tottered on her legs;
He just stood there as a machete cleaved his head;
She had tried to reach her refuge, but toppled to her death
His soul cried out, and from above, he never understood?

By David Edwards
This poem was Highly Commended in the 2013 Poems Please Me Prize competititon

Artist: Lana Frye

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